Sifter



(No Model.)

T. P. TIMBY.

SIPTER.

tented Dec. 1, 1885.

INVENTOR T/zeodarej T 1 5772293,

WITNESSES @J. cam/WM 62. 3. 7W4, v

By [211 .dttomay N. PETERS. PhoXa-Llthugmphcn washin mn, D. C,

' NITED STATES THEODORE F. TIMBY, OF

arnivr rrien.

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

SIFTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent K03313 324, dated December 1, 1855.

Application filed September 20, 1834. Serial No. 143,562. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THEODORE F. TIMBY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brook lyn, in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sifters, of which the following, is a specification.

This invention relates, as an improvement, to that class of sifters for domestic use in which rotary agitators are employed to effect the passage of the fine particles of flour, sugar, &c., separated from lumps and foreign particles, through wire screens or sieves, and in which the sifters are adapted to be used as scoops, so as to be readily filled, and also as measures, so as to indicate the quantities taken up thereby, and thus facilitate sifting given exact quantities into mixing-pans, for example, in a convenient manner.

The present invention consists in an improved sifter of said class embodying certain novel features of construction,hereinafter described and claimed.

A sheet of drawings accompanies this specification as part thereof.

Figure 1 of these drawings is a perspective View of my improved sifter. Fig. 2 represents a vertical section of the same, and Fig. 3 represents a horizontal section on the line 3 3, Fig. 2, illustrating the sifting operation.

Like letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts in the several figures.

This sifter is composed of an upright cy' lindrical body, A, of tin, (tin-plate,) a flat sieve-bottom, B, of tinned wire-cloth, and an axial rotary agitator, O, of tinned wire, as its main parts, together with a handle, h, for the body, and a ring, T, which re enforces and finishes the lower edge of the body and stretches and secures the sieve-bottom, both made of scraps of the tin, so that the tin for two sifters may be taken from a single commercial sheet of tin -plate, a small annular disk, 3, of tin, flat, soldered to the sieve-bottom at its middle toform a step-bearing for the lower pivot of the agitator, and a dished one, 0, soldered on the stem of the agitator as its collar, a small loose knob, k, of wood or pewter, for the upper end of the agitator-stem, and a pair of tinned-iron bent wires, a b, which together form a combined upper bearing unfastening device and pressure-regulator for the agitator, and also stiffen the handle h, in the edges of which their outer ends are held, as aforesaid.

The body A is preferably cut with the cnstomary upward extension or lip, Z, at its upper edge, to facilitate its use as a scoop, as aforesaid, and provided with the customary graduatingbeads, g, to adapt it to measure different quantities. A bead, f, parallel to said graduatirig-beads, forms an upper bearing for and a tight joint around the sieve-bottom B, and insures the correct location of the latter in the body relative to said graduating-beads.

The fiat sieve-bottoni is cut from a minimum of the relatively expensive wire-cloth, and is readily stretched and kept clean, so as to be highly effective. It is cut with a depending marginal rim, within which the ring 7* is placed, after which both are forced into place within the body. The lower edge of the ring is then turned up around the lower edge of the body, as shown in Fig. 2, to securely unite the parts and finish thisedge of the sifter.

The sieve-bottom is provided with the central step-beariug, s, and is punched within the same before its insertion in the body, and after the handle h is attached, with the outer ends of the wires a -b fast therein, their inner ends having been previously shaped as shown, the body is ready to receive the agitator O. The inner extremities of the wires a b are in the form of half-rings, each embracing the stem of the agitator when the latter is in place on that side opposite the wire end which is fast in the handle, as clearly seen in Fig. 1; consequently by pressing the wires together at a point between their inner ends and the handle said half-rings are separated and the agitator is released, and so released it is withdrawable through the open upper end of the body as one part, its lower pivot lifting freely from said step bearing 5. The upper bearing formed by said wires on b is immediately above said collar 0, as seen in Fig. 2, and consequently, by slightly bending the wires vertically, the pressure of the agitator on the sieve-bottom may be readily increased or diminished.

The agitator C, excepting its collar 0 and knob 70, is made from a single piece of wire, bent as shown in Figs. 2 and 3-that is to say,

' sidcred essential.

By making the agitator of the peculiar shape represented in Figs. 2 and 3that is to say, with horizontal skeleton wings of clover-leaf shape-the agitator is adapted to operate, when rotated in either direction, in the manner represented by Fig. 3, the outer front edge of each wing carrying the particles with which it comes in contact outward, while the inner front edge of each wing carries the particles with which it comes in contactinward. Lumps are thus carried back and forth over the surface of the flat sieve-bottom until they are pulverized ordinarily, while lighter foreign particles are collected in the small central space indicated by a dotted circle in Fig. 3, where the mass is comparatively motionless. Moreover, agitation is confined to the particlesimmediately overlying the sieve bottom, where alone it is effective, and there is no grinding action.

I have specified in detail the construction of my improved sifter, but do not wish to con fine my respective claims, hereinafter stated, to mechanical details which are not essential to the respective features of the invention, as claimed.

Having thus described my said improvement in sifters, I claim as my invention and desire to patent under this specificationl. The combination, in a si ter, of an upright circular body, a flat sieve-bottom having a central step-bearing, a rotary agitator having a pivot at its lower end, a hand-crank at the upper end of its vertical stem, and a collar below said crank, and an upper bearing for said agitator, adapted to embrace said stem above said collar and to beopened to release the agitator, substantially as herein specified.

2. The combination, in a sitter, of an upright circular body having asheet-metal handle on one side thereof, a sieve-bottom within the lower part of said body, an axial rotary agitator, and a wire or wires applied to said handle as stiffeningwires, and extending inwardly from the upper end thereof to support the agitator, substantially as herein specified.

3. The combination, in a sifter, of an up right circular body having a sheet'metal handle on one side thereof, a fiat sieve-bottom secured within the lower part of said body, an axial rotary agitator having its stem provided with a collar, and a combined upper bearing unfastening device and pressure-regulator for the agitator, formed by a pair of wires, the inner ends of which embrace said stem above said collar, while their outer ends are held within the respective edges of said handle and serve to stiffen the latter, substantially as herein specified.

t. The combination, in a sitter, of an upright circular body, a flat sieve-bottom secured within the lower part of-said body and provided with acentral step-bearing, and an axial rotary agitator having a lower pivot, a series of horizontal skeleton wings of clover leaf shape immediately above said bottom, a vertical stem, and a crank at the upper end of the latter formed ofa single continuous wire, substantiall y as herein specified.

5. The combination, in a sifter, substantially as herein specified,of an upright circular body, a flat sieve-bottom, and an axial rotary agitator having a lower pivot, a series of horizontal skeleton Wings of clover-leaf shape immediately above said bottom, and a central open space around said pivot, in which light foreign matters are collected in operation, in the manner set forth.

THEODORE F. TIMBY.

lVitnesses:

JOHN MAODOUGALL, WM. H. J oHNsoN. 

